Qatar podiums mean Ducati race fuel reduced
Ducati's double podium finish in the season-opening Qatar MotoGP means their race fuel will be reduced by two litres for the rest of 2015.
Ducati, like Suzuki and Aprilia, are allowed to race with the Open class fuel, tyre, engine and testing concessions due to a lack of race wins in 2013.
However the four-litre race fuel advantage over the factory class Honda and Yamaha riders is halved if the manufacturer achieves a race win, two second places or three podiums in dry conditions.
Only one of Ducati's 2014 podiums was classified as dry, but with Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone finishing second and third to Yamaha's Valentino Rossi on Sunday they have now reached the threshold.
However the loss of two litres of fuel is not expected to have any tangible impact since Ducati claim they have not been using more than 22 litres anyway. 22 litres is also the new limit for all competitors in 2016.
If Ducati claims three dry wins in the remaining rounds their riders will also lose the softer Open class rear tyre. All other concessions will remain in place (regardless of results) until the start of the single ECU era in 2016.
The full statement from Race Direction is as follows:
"Following the Ducati Team's results at the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar last weekend, at which Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone were both on the podium, its fuel allowance has been reduced from 24 to 22 litres.
"MotoGP Race Direction has officially notified the Ducati Team regarding the regulations affecting its MotoGP Factory Option entries, which under Article 2.4.4.5.5 of the FIM Road racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations means that the concession of a 24 litre fuel tank capacity will be removed effective immediately.
"This is due to the fact that Ducati Factory option machines have now achieved three podiums in dry conditions since the start of the 2014 season: Dovizioso's 3rd place in Austin 2014, his 2nd place in Qatar 2015 and his teammate Iannone's 3rd place in the same race. From the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas until the end of the 2015 season, the fuel tank capacity for all Ducati Factory option machines will be a maximum of 22 litres.
"This applies to Ducati machines entered under the Factory Option, which include Ducati Team's Dovizioso and Iannone, as well as Pramac Racing Team's Danilo Petrucci and Yonny Hernandez.
The Avintia Racing Open entries of Hector Barbera and Mike Di Meglio are not affected."
Dovizioso battled for victory throughout the Qatar race, losing out to Rossi by just 0.174s
